An opinion from a "FS2002" pilot
Well well ... How should I start ? Maybe some background information first.
This armchair pilot has had aviation as a VERY serious hobby for 14 years. I have been flying with my father in single-engine planes since he got his PPL, and subsequent CVFR, IR and CPL ratings. I have, how should I put it, a _lot_ of "unofficial" stick time in small planes, and am quite skilled in flying, say a 172.
But guess what? I don't have a PPL and couldn't afford one at the moment. Instead, I'll be getting my M.Sc in electrical engineering in one year, after which I will be applying for professional training programs to become a professional pilot.
I also happen to be a RC-plane fanatic, and love flying those little things. In fact, I had no trouble in learning to fly such a thing on my own, as opposed to how people _should_ do it.
Apart from these, I also LOVE flight simulators and "flying" with them. Yes, I use FS2002 daily (!), mostly with my beloved PIC767 addon which is a phenomenal package of "flying" put inside a 21" monitor (in my case). There are _MANY_ airline pilots in the simming world who will tell you that _that_ particular addon is as close as it gets...
So. Maybe my knowledge of real-life aviation is not enough, given I've only flown small planes, and not jets. Maybe my knowledge of airliner systems and such is minimal, given that I know the B767 type FMC and the rest of the aircraft systems like the back of my hand. I have only used like the past 10 years reading _everything_ I can get my hands on, that handles professional aviation. I am familiar with just about everything there is to know about professional flying (what happens in the front). I just recently had a chance to fly a LEVEL D MD-11 simulator, and had no problems in flying and landing the sim in IMC, although I have zero flight-training, let alone flight-time in the jet. I'm as enthusiastic as they come.
BUT...
I STILL don't understand the fact that _some_ of you professional aviators (or would you like to be called super-heros instead?) think that flying is something so very very special and "above anything else" that you think you can call other people IDIOTS, only because they don't have an ATPL in their pocket. I'd like to suggest a quick reality-check for those in question !
The moral of this post?
In today's world of free media and super highways of information available, many people know a lot about things that they do NOT professionally do. That doesn't make them all ignorant, however.
Flying is nothing mystical or something to get an egotrip from. Pilots are not gods. I think you should start to recognize the fact that it's a profession that can be disussed with "normal" people as well as the professionals themselves, just like any other profession...
I DO agree that some of the wannabees and armchair pilots (probably teenagers with nothing else to do) have voiced some stupid stuff in PPrune, but you should just ignore those kind of posts.
This is my honest opinion and I'm not disrespecting professional pilots in general, not at all! I intend to become one myself later in my life, but I do criticize those who get bothered by other people because their ego is so massive that it needs its own field to play in.
cheers,
Tj